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Roaming Bot Cohorts

Cohort Descriptions

I literally just make up these cohort names for my own use: they are not "official" in any way. The following groups have appeared in signficant numbers or consistently in the last year or so; I'll eventually remove older/retired groups.

Rilbrenats: The Rilbrenats are the oldest (and one of the largest) groups of bots on the grid: many of them date from mid-2009. They tend to appear on a region, sometimes "pirouette" clockwise, then vanish—at least, if they aren't just a cloud: many have been running so long they've lost all attachments to teleport errors. Most have blank profiles, and they visit both mainland and private estates. My cohort name derives from some of the avatar names—several are named Riley, Brenden, and Natalia. The distribution and consistency of their operation suggests they're part of a region or land survey effort, although they do visit some locations disproportionately so they probably care about something in those places more than others. On rare occasions one will get "stuck" at a location for a time. They're registered as scripted agents. Includes a group of "younger" avatars from 2015 I'd originally grouped in an imaginatively-named cohort called "Mid2015."
The Zoombies: The Zoombies are a group of quite-old SL accounts that appear to have belonged to real users are some point, but are now being used as bots. Some of the Zoombies are on the grid constantly; others appear to come and go. A "new" gaggle of Zoombies appeared in December 2019 and made it easier to identify the cohort. They visit mainland and estates. There is some evidence that might connect this group to other cohorts. Several Zoombies were not identified as scripted agents when LL changed their bot policies in early 2023, but they've since done so. Sometimes these bots get parked to scoop up free Lindens for camping; sometimes they just appear to be stuck.
The Imps: Believed to poll avatar attachments surveying usage of mesh bodies and heads; the operator makes aggregate data available inworld. They visit mainland and estates.
The Cartographers: The Cartographers are part of an experimental cartography project (you're never guess by the name!) originally intended, in part, to offer a little competition to GridSurvey. They started in August 2020, vanished, and then reappeared with very low activity levels in March 2023. There is a degree of connection with the Bonnies.
The Bonnies: A few of the Bonnies appeared briefly back in 2020, but they started roaming the grid in earnest in July 2022. They visit mainland and private estates, and support an effort to supplement things like the Second Life Destination Guide by gathering real-time information on where gatherings of avatars driven by actual humans are (as opposed to gatherings of automated avatars or bots). Eventually the idea is to be able to provide a directory of socially active places for new and returning SL users, so logging onto the grid is less like dropping into a ghost town. You can check out the current state of the effort. Recently the bots started offering summaries of common avatar attachments, information on abandoned mainland, aggregate data on Marketplace activity, information on availability of some Linden Homes, and an "avatar search" that covered text in profiles; however, some of those features were curtailed following "public outcry" and apparently some discussion with Linden Lab in early 2023.

I initially called this cohort the "Chucks" because I name things arbitrarily and try not to reveal information about what bots are members of which cohorts. However, since the Bonnies are easily identified and the effort gained a very public presence toward the end of 2022, I've changed the name to something obvious.
Maizies: Inworld, the Maizies appear to use a fairly inefficient setup (it's not uncommon to find 20 of them idling at their mainland "HQ"), but behind the scenes the operator says the bots feed land ownership and avatar visits data into machine learning and AI models to (potentially) predict things like land sales and popularity. Each bot seems to be assigned for a time to a small group of regions. They visit mainland and estates and demonstrate fairly strong preferences for some locations over others. The Maizies first appeared about the same time as the first members of a group I now call The Walts, so they were conflated for a while. The Maizies operate more-or-less continually. Several weren't identified as scripted agents, and the whole group went offline for a while when LL changed its bot policies. Then they returned, even the ones that weren't previously identified as scripted agents.
The Walts: The Walts began roaming the grid in earnest in June 2022. They initially seemed primarily concerned with "Linden-owned" regions—mainland, Linden Homes, Zindra, etc.—but more-recent visits have become fairly egalitarian. They appear to be the latest iteration of a small, fast group that appeared in September 2021, and seem concerned with land ownership. The Walts' online presence is sporadic. Almost all are registered as scripted agents.
The Hons: The Hons began to zoom around the grid in seriousness in July 2019. The bots visit both mainland regions and private estates; their visits are brief but often not as rapid as other cohorts. Lately they seem to stumble and "get stuck" more often, but they've also started moving when they appear: they set off on autopilot in a direction and keep going until they run into something or TP away. The pattern of their appearances indicates they're almost certainly gathering land ownership data…although a few seem to have different "missions" at times and some regions get many more visits from the Hons than others. The Hons went offline in late September 2021; but re-appeared in September 2022 with a mix of new and old bots. More recently some long-retired bot accounts re-appeared. They're registered as scripted agents.
2666s: Roaming bots that appeared on the grid in beginning late January 2023. The operator says they're primarily about land ownership and things like the occupancy levels of Linden Homes. Like the Graveys, the 2666s are definitely more interested in some places than others. They visit mainland and estates. This cohort initially tended to have ten or so bots active at a time then switch to another ten or so after a few days, which makes their "number of bots sighted in a month" figure large. There are also other members that appear more sporadically with different patterns, and as of 2024 their activity level has subsided a bit. New bots come and go. Some of these bots are not marked as scripted agents.
The Graveys
: The Graveys appeared in January 2023 and significantly increased their activity in March 2023. Similar to the 2666s, this group tended to use clusters of new avatars for a few days at a time, which made their monthy totals seem large; only a portion of those accounts were active at any given time. However, eventually the group settled on a group of accounts that are registered as scripted agents and run consistently. This group visits mainland and estates and strongly prefers visiting some regions over others.
The Dollies
: The Dollies first appeared October 2023. They're part of an effort to integrate generative AI and AI assistance into Second Life on a scale considerably larger than "go type at a bot that talks to ChatGPT"—the intention seems to offer straight-up AI-assisted services to SL residents. The project is still in development, and teleport activity increased substantially December 2024. This group is quite large, although only a portion are typically online at a time. Some bots are stationary.
The Railers
: The Railers popped up in June 2023. Although the patterns have changed over time, they mostly visit mainland and private estates. Typically only a few are active at any given time (some haven't been seen in ages) but have a semi-sporadic activity level. If you ever heard me talk about the "Patsies" and "Otters" (or saw them on the monthly chart), patterns established they're part of this group.
The Crumbs
: These are apparently estate monitoring/land management bots for one or more land groups. These aren't traditional roaming bots that could pop up anywhere: they bounce between mainland parcels owned by (or potentially being monitored by) the land groups. I wouldn't normally put land management bots into my groupings, but the land owners involved have quite a few parcels so, depending on your SL experience, you might see these popping around regularly. I've certainly been asked about them!
The Flips
: This is a cohort of mostly-older avatars that appear to have been repurposed as roaming bots and started slowly popping around the grid in May 2024. Not sure what they're up to yet, but they are registered as scripted agents and visit both mainland, private estates, and the non-Belleseria Linden Homes.
The Pleathers
: The Pleathers are a group of older avatars that may have been used as non-roaming bots for some time. From June 2024 they wandered around the grid for a bit, visiting mainland and private estates, but they seem to have a particular interest in sandboxes and locations that host traffic-boosting/free Lindens games. They're marked as scripted agents and, for the moment anyway, seem intermittent.
The Bubblies
: The Bubblies are (currently) a handful of bots that seem to have an association with a particular inworld game, and visit locations that host "facilities" for that game. They appeared in August 2024 and could just be a prank.
The Cisis
: The Cisis are a larger group of roaming bots that appeared December 2024. They have some similarities to a couple of groups so I'm not yet sure if they're a separate thing, a flash-in-the-pan, or a significant new effort. The Cisis visit mainland, estates and (because they're not currently marked as scripted agents) they have been visiting some places like Belleseria where registered bots are banned.
The Mendichis
: This group of older avatars appeared in February 2025: not sure what they're going, but they could be an experiment or part of an effort to develop a grid-wide game. When they appeared, they were not marked as scripted agents and did stray into regions that specifically ban bots, so that's lovely.
The Meshkanets
: In the wake of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a group of bots I've dubbed the Meshkanets have been sending counter-programming via group chats and object-based instant messages to users who have espoused pro-Putin/pro-Russian views. There's no apparent commercial angle or scam. The Meshkanets don't bounce around the whole grid; instead, they appear at specific locations and others idle "under the radar" in Russian-speaking locations. The group includes a large number of avatars, but only a couple dozen are active at any given time, and new ones are cycled in regularly. "Meshkanet" is Ukrainian for something like "inhabitant," "dweller," or, uh, "resident." (Gosh, wonder how I came up with that?) Meshkanets are not marked as scripted agents, and, despite the size of the cohort, the broad range of locations at which they appear, and the frequency with which they add new bots, I am not currently reporting on Meshkanets as roaming bots because the scope of their movements is almost entirely defined by their purpose, and presently that has nothing to do with roaming the grid.
The Drudes
: A series of roaming bots, registered as scripted agents, that visit mainland and private estates. Named for demons and (accused) witches, and probably-not-concidentally they appeared in October 2025. Spooooky.
The Babbazis
: A series of roaming bots, most registered as scripted agents, that visit mainland and private estates. They appeared in November 2025 and are mostly named with terms from religion or philosophy. Perhaps connected to some other groups that currently show little activity. These seem to visit regions longer than most roaming bots, and sometimes get "stuck."
The BFors
: Relatively large group of bots, with either bland oir vaguely ridiculous names, that started roaming around the grid in mid October 2025 and disappeared a month later. Mostly registered as scripted agents, they appeared on mainland and private estates.
The SFUS
: A series of roaming bots, not registered as scripted agents, that primarily visit mainland with a statistical predilection for Zindra. All named in ways that suggest corpses, zombies, or other grave-dwellers—SFU stands for "Six Feet Under"—I'm very clever. They also appeared in October 2025 but aren't the same as the Drudes. But are they as spooky?
The Fizwumps
: The Fizwumps appeared in June 2025: so far they're a small group that is online intermittently. They're registered as scripted agents and visit mainland, old-school Linden Homes, and private estates. While data are still sparse, there are some weak indications they're surveying land ownership. The name for this cohort was volunteered by someone who follows this bot survey—you know who you are, and thank you!
The JFEs
: This group appeared (and then disappeared) in mid-2023, and might be part of/an offshoot of one of the other cohorts. However, most of them were not registered as scripted agents per the Linden Lab Scripted Agent Policy, and I guess Linden Lab noticed because they all disappeared for a while in August 2023 then briefly came back as registered scripted agents. They visit mainland and private estates.
The Eugenes
: I'm not sure these are really separate from other cohorts, but the Eugenes are a small group of bots that, so far, have roamed quickly for a couple days then basically disappear for up to six weeks. They seem to exclusively visit mainland (including Zindra), and their profiles claim they're bots and provide an email address for contact.